The Nightmare Begins
by key18
Summary: When Keiran starts having nightmares, he begins to start fearing for more than himself. Just by being friends with everyone, he feels like he is putting them in mortal danger. Can Keiran overcome his fears and protect his friends, and the person he cares about most? AU and doesn't follow my other story. Rating subject to change.
1. A Frightful Start

**Author's Note: So as I mentioned in the most recent chapter of Every King Has His KASL, I plan on making a second RWBY story but one that doesn't follow the canon. It's mostly going to be a between season project but I thought I'd get started now, so let's get started with this new story. **

**Aside from my OC's and a majority of the plot, RWBY is owned by Monty Oum and RoosterTeeth, enjoy. **

* * *

In the midst of a dark room was a seventeen year old boy, chained to a wall. His clothes were torn and he was covered in cuts and bruises. He raised his head to get some of his bloodstained hair out of his purple eyes. He noticed some quiet footsteps and tried to focus on the direction they were coming from.

"Well Keiran, it looks like your finally awake," A voice echoed from the shadows. Keiran looked around in the thick darkness of the room and tried to find the person talking to him. "Hopefully you'll be able to remain in this world for a while longer. We wouldn't want you dying before all your friends, would we?"

A man with pale white skin and red markings appeared from the far corner of the room. From Keiran's perspective the man wasn't even human anymore and judging by the monster like qualities of his hands, he could still become more monstrous.

"Fuck...you..." Keiran spat. The monstrosity of a man smiled at the wounded boy and stepped closer.

"Is that any way to speak to your father?" The monster asked. Keiran grew angrier and spat on the man who claimed to be his father.

"Like hell you're my father!" Keiran declared. "My father died a long time ago, and even if you share his name and face you can never claim to be him."

Keiran's father stepped further into the faint light cast by the moon and revealed his face. It matched the rest of his body. Red markings on pale skin and his eyes were red with white irises.

"At least you still have some fight left and I'll squeeze the last of it out when I kill everyone you care about," Cronan threatened. Keiran jerked forward at his father's claims but was held back by the chains that bound him. His father gently placed his clawed hand on his son's cheek before slashing across it with his claws, drawing blood. "Don't worry, only when your broken and unable to fight will I kill your beloved, Ruby."

"Don't you touch her!" the dragoon shouted. He tried to reach forward to attack his father but felt the chain on his wrist tighten when he got to the end of it's reach.

"It's only a matter of time now, son. And once you and your pathetic friends are gone from this world, no one will be able to stop me," The half man warned. Keiran glared at his dad even through the blood that still covered half his face and his vision. "But I think I'll put you a little closer to the next world!"

With a flick of his wrist, Cronan sent his claws deep into Keiran's stomach, causing the boy to cough up a large amount of blood and start bleeding profusely. He retracted his hand and licked the blood off his fingers as Keiran's vision started to blur.

"Maybe you won't get to protect your friends after all, but don't worry for they shall be joining you soon." The half man turned and walked back into the shadows as his son's vision starting wavering in and out of darkness.

"I'll kill you father. I promise you that," Keiran whispered. As his vision went completely dark he felt himself slam onto the floor.

* * *

Suddenly, Keiran awoke with a jolt and frantically looked around. Instead of being in some dark, depressing warehouse, he was in his dorm room at Beacon. He silently thanked the gods it was a weekend and that his teammates left him to sleep, but briefly cursed them for not waking him from the nightmare that felt so real.

"Why the hell am I having these nightmares?" He asked himself. Keiran walked to the bathroom and splashed some water on his face. He looked into the mirror and realized he was a mess. His hair was much messier than normal and he had huge dark rings under his eyes. The dragoon turned and went back to his bed, grabbing his journal.

"I started writing in this thing to have something to tell my mother when I felt alone and now it's been reduced to chronicling the strange dreams I've had for the past week." Keiran began writing down the events of the most recent dream and how much more real it felt compared to the others. He looked back a few pages and noted that he had the same dream two days prior. "If the pattern is consistent, then the next dream should be about dad strangling Ruby to death." He shuddered as he recalled the first horrifying dream he had. It didn't feel as real as the others but the events in it had left Keiran feeling unsure of himself.

Before he could continue writing, there was a knock at the door. Keiran closed his journal and hid it before answering.

"Hi Keiran!" Ruby greeted. Her presence relieved Keiran a little. At least now he could be sure he wasn't in another dream where Ruby was dead.

"Oh, hi Ruby," Keiran returned the greeting in a depressing tone. Ruby took immediate notice as she walked into the room.

"Something wrong?" She asked in concern.

Keiran sat back down on his bed and stared at his girlfriend. He always wondered how she chiseled her way into his heart but was glad she did.

"It's...nothing, just haven't been sleeping well recently." He pointed to the rings under his eyes and Ruby nodded before sitting down on the adjacent bed.

"Anything I can do to help?"

"No, but I might go see a professional about it. It's really nothing for you to worry about," Keiran said with false confidence. He had always been a terrible liar and the way Ruby scowled told him that wasn't going change anytime soon.

"Of course it's something for me to worry about. If something is bothering you, I deserve a chance to help," Ruby persuaded.

"I guess you have a point." Keiran pondered the idea and then tried to think of a way to tell Ruby without telling her everything. He snapped his fingers and got ready to tell her what was plaguing him. "About a week ago, I started having these nightmares, some of which involved you."

"It's not the dream you had about me going on a cookie fueled rampage is it?" Ruby asked with a weak laugh. Keiran chuckled nervously as he remembered that dream, which was as terrifying as it sounded, before getting back on topic.

"Believe me, if that dream came back I would've sought professional help immediately. But more to the point, the ones that involve you seem to show my father..." He trailed off and took a grim expression. Ruby looked a little frightened by that and tried to urge him on.

"Your dad does what to me? Keiran you can tell me, so please just say what you need to say," Ruby pleaded. She couldn't stand seeing him in such a vulnerable state and she wasn't sure if pressing him into talking was a good idea.

"My father...kills you, and I'm powerless to stop him," He confessed. The tears forming in his eyes dropped onto his bed and he could almost feel Ruby's terror.

The silence that filled the room was maddening and Keiran tried to fight the fear his dreams instilled on him. He didn't even hear Ruby get up from Asura's bed and embrace him. At that point he felt his emotional barriers break and cried on Ruby's shoulder. To Ruby, his sobs were almost as frightening as the story he just told her. She patted him on the back and let him cry, something that rarely been seen by anyone before.

After his tears subsided, Keiran pulled away from Ruby to wipe the remaining tears away. The young leader of team RWBY sat down beside him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Listen to me Keiran, I won't say those are just dreams and you shouldn't be worried. I am going to say that I'm not going anywhere, even if some of them do come true, I'm staying right by your side." Ruby said with a meaningful look in her eye.

Keiran looked at her and looked somewhat apologetic. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. He told himself he was scared and just needed to hold someone and it was partially true, but he also didn't want to risk his dream coming true right then and there.

"Feeling better?" Ruby finally asked. Keiran nodded and broke off the half hug and walked back into the bathroom to clean himself up.

His eyes were red from all the crying he had just done and he let out a weak laugh at the sight.

"Looks like the helmet may be in order for today," he joked. He heard Ruby laugh behind him as she tossed him the aforementioned object. he strapped his dragon styled helmet on his head after he got changed into his regular attire, minus his weapon and ammo clips.

Keiran walked back to Ruby, who was waiting patiently in the doorway. She noted how he already looked ten times more cheerful than he did earlier.

"What's on the agenda today Flowergirl?" Keiran asked with a laugh. He had begun calling her Flowergirl due to her strong association with flowers.

"Well DragonEars, we were either gonna go see what the others are doing or go for a walk in the city." Ruby shot back cheerily. Ruby had taken to calling Keiran DragonEars since whenever he wore his helmet it looked like the ears on the helmet were his real ones, since his hair hid his actual ears.

"A walk through Vale sounds nice, just hope we don't get jumped like last time," Keiran added. Ruby laughed when he mentioned the guys who tried to mug them. The funny part was that Ruby was the one who took them down, while Keiran stood by and watched.

"Yeah, but I bet the spread the word around to their buddies not to mess with he duo of FlowerGirl and DragonEars!" She cheered the last part and gained a chuckle from Keiran.

"Don't worry, if anyone does try something like that I'll take my turn and stop them," Keiran said pridefully.

"Ok then tough guy, I'll be waiting nearby when you need to tag out." Ruby grinned widely as she walked out the door. Keiran remembered to grab his scroll and lock the room before leaving.

The pair walked down the hall hand in hand and made sure to check out of the dorm for the day, a customary rule students had to follow on weekends. After that they walked to the nearest airship and hoped it wasn't very full.

It was.

They crammed in the airship with three dozen other students. Luckily their stop was the first one and they escaped that cramped transport.

"Ok so where to first Ruby?" Keiran asked. Ruby placed her hand to her chin in thought and looked around. They were on the better side of town so they didn't have to worry about getting mugged if they stayed there for to long.

"Maybe we should get some lunch, it's almost noon," Ruby suggested. Keiran nodded in agreement before looking at his girlfriend in surprise.

"It's noon?" He asked. Ruby nodded and Keiran massaged his temples to process the thought. "Must've been sleeping for longer than I thought."

"Don't worry, I know lots of good places we can eat for practically nothing."

"Ruby, stealing from that bakery did end up costing us money." Keiran sat flatly.

"I didn't steal from them, I was just doing some taste testing," She protested.

"By eating three pans of cookies in thirty seconds? Good job." Keiran laughed as Ruby fell silent and walked off. "Come on Rubes, I was just kidding. I'll let you pick the restaurant."

He chased after Ruby, who picked up the pace after he said she can choose.

* * *

After they ate, Ruby led Keiran to her uncle Qrow's house. It wasn't the first time he had been there and her uncle seemed pretty fond of him except for the fact Keiran was dating Ruby.

"Hey Uncle, I'm here and I brought Keiran!" She called out as she led Keiran inside the apartment.

The couple walked into the kitchen and saw a man in his early fifties standing over the stove cooking something. He was mostly bald aside from the grey-brown hair that framed his head. He had a bushy mustache that was also turning a little grey and eyes that matched Ruby's.

Qrow turned around and looked overjoyed to see his niece and slightly less so to see her boyfriend.

"Ah, Ruby and Keiran. What can I do for my favorite couple?" He asked politely.

"Nothing, we just came in to say hi, also Yang says hi," Ruby explained.

"Well come sit, I was just making lunch. Do either of you want any?" The scythe expert asked.

"No thank you, we ate right before coming over here," Keiran politely declined. He sniffed the air and was met with a tasty aroma. "But what exactly are you making?"

Ruby kicked Keiran from under the table and scowled at him while Qrow laughed.

"I was testing another new recipe," He explained cheerfully. Keiran grimaced and remembered the last time he heard that. Fried Nevermore talons should never have been a recipe on this planet, ever.

"It's not the Nevermore talons again is it?" Ruby asked fearfully. Qrow laughed and walked over to the stove, turning it off. He grabbed the skillet and brought it over to the table.

"No I stopped getting the weekly supply of that after Yang almost got food poisoning. This is Beowolf bacon!" He declared. The two students looked at the concoction Qrow had on the skillet and looked somewhat frightened of it. "I promise this won't give anyone food poisoning."

"How do you know that if you haven't had anyone try it yet?" Keiran asked hesitantly. Qrow scratched his head and laughed nervously, and Keiran knew exactly why. "You want us to try it, don't you?"

"If you would be so kind," The old man begged. Keiran looked at Ruby, who was equally as frightened before hesitantly picking up a piece of bacon. Ruby did the same and they both stared at each other.

"On the count of three. One...Two...Three!" He counted down. On three they both swallowed the bacon and chewed it vigorously. Qrow looked at them expectantly as they swallowed the possibly deadly substance.

"Hows it taste?"

Ruby was the first to answer and gave her uncle a supportive look. "It's not terrible but it could be better."

Qrow stood there smiling for some time before taking the skillet back to the stove.

"Well I guess thats better than a no, or one of you collapsing from food poisoning," Qrow stated. The couple sighed as he accepted their judgement on his new recipe and stood up to leave. "Leaving already?"

"Yeah, we have lots of stuff to do before we have to go back to Beacon for the night," Ruby explained. Keiran nodded before bowing in respect to the elder man.

"Well I guess you kids have more free time on weekends than adults do, have fun you two. And Keiran..."

"Yes sir?"

"Don't do anything to hurt her, got it?" Qrow warned. Keiran looked back and smiled.

"I haven't hurt her so far, I plan on keeping that streak going strong." Keiran gave one last wave before following Ruby out the door.

* * *

Ruby and Keiran went to several other stores over the course of the day but ended up buying nothing. The airship they returned on was significantly less crowded than it was on the way in and Keiran got to sit down and rest. Ruby on the other hand, was pacing anxiously, which concerned the dragoon.

"Whats up FlowerGirl?" He asked. Ruby stopped and looked at Keiran with a worried expression.

"You might have another one of those nightmares tonight, so I was thinking that I should stay in your room tonight to keep watch over you," She suggested.

"Only if all the beds aren't full, but I think Lucas and Sam went to see their parents this weekend so we might have room." Ruby cheered slightly and sat down next to Keiran. "I'm not making any promises though, got it?"

"Got it!"

The pair arrived back at Beacon before evening and rushed back to their dorm rooms. The lounge was empty, which was most likely because they didn't feel the need to be back as early as Keiran and Ruby were.

"Want me to go check if the siblings are home?" Keiran asked. Ruby nodded and Keiran hurried off to his room. Ruby relaxed on the couch and closed her eyes.

Keiran, meanwhile, was making his way to his room. He noticed the door was slightly open when he got there. He peered through the opening to see someone standing in the middle of the room. Taking a deep breath, Keiran opened the door and slowly walked in. He didn't see anyone and turned towards the bathroom door, which was closed. Keiran slowly walked up to the door and knocked on it and heard a muffled response from the other side.

"Asura? Is that you?" he asked tentatively. He listened to the sound of footsteps came closer to the door and stepped back as it opened slightly. A head of navy blue hair greeted Keiran.

"Hey Keiran, whats up?" she asked enthusiastically. Keiran let out a sigh of relief and sat down, leaving Asura confused.

"I thought you were a robber," he explained. His partner laughed and went back into the bathroom.

Keiran took off his helmet and massaged his temples.

"I need to stop being so damn paranoid," He whispered to himself. As he calmed himself Asura stepped out of the bathroom wearing a bright orange tank top and blue jeans. Keiran looked up at his partner with a joking smile. "You know, if we took one of those black and white photos of you, your clothes would be the same color."

"You've said that half a dozen times in the last week!" Asura scolded her partner.

"Really? I've lost count." Keiran stood up and walked over to the desk and grabbed a pieces of paper, and started folding them into origami cranes.

"Since when can you do origami?" His partner questioned. The dragoon ignored her and made three more before placing them on Asura's shelf. "And why are you putting those up there?"

"I dunno. Maybe cause your sort of graceful," the dragoon said before leaving the room.

"Hey! What do you mean 'sort of'?" She shouted. Keiran laughed silently as he closed the door. He spotted Ruby walking down the hallway and waited for her to walk by.

"So? Whats the verdict?" Ruby asked. Keiran gave her a thumbs up and Ruby went to get her stuff before stopping abruptly. "Wait! Won't Yang think this is weird?"

"Not if we explain it to her in a proper fashion," Keiran stated. He quickly raised his hand to his chin and thought it out a little more before deciding to change his answer. "Well as long as she doesn't try to kill me, we should get the okay."

They walked down the hall to Ruby's room and stopped outside. Keiran was fearful of what Yang's reaction might be and Ruby was blushing about the question she was about to ask.

"Maybe I should wait out here." Keiran backed up a few feet from the door as Ruby entered. Once the door was shut the dragoon placed his ear against the door and listened.

"Hey sis, what you doing?" Yang asked. Keiran couldn't hear anyone else in the room, which he considered a good thing. He heard Ruby stand up to face her sister and prayed she would word her next statement properly.

"Oh well I was going to sleep with Keiran tonight," She said innocently.

_Dammit! _Keiran screamed in his head. In an instant he heard Yang's aura explode and Ruby realize what she just said.

"Wait, Yang! that isn't what I meant, honest!" Ruby tried to explain.

"Where is he?" Yang asked with a seemingly calm voice. At that point Keiran began to back away from the door and walked down the hall. Next thing he knew, Yang had busted through the door with a look of pure rage.

"Yang, I can explain, just leave me in a conscious state so I can!" Keiran pleaded. Yang started slowly walking towards him and Keiran slowly backed up. If he had his sword, he may have been a little less frightened, but now he was completely defenseless and Yang had her shot gauntlets activated and ready to kill. "Yang, I beg of you, please let me live."

"Not. A. Chance." Yang took one powerful lunge and aimed a punch right at Keiran's head, which he narrowly avoided. He flipped over his attacker and ran towards the window.

"Gotta get outside, thats my only chance," Keiran instructed himself. He was within jumping distance of the window and used his aura to increase his jumping distance. The window shattered and he fell towards the stone covered ground of the courtyard. He looked back and could see Yang not far behind him, the flames of her aura threatening to burn the skin off his body.

"You can't hide from me out here!" Yang declared. Keiran hit the ground and wore a confident but fearful smile on his face.

"I don't need to hide, I just need room to do this!" Keiran showed what he meant by making a triumphant leap into the shadows of the school building, which he knew Yang couldn't accomplish. "Well Yang can achieve quite a bit when she's angry, I should keep moving."

He began walking along the roof of the school and carefully grabbed his scroll and called Ruby.

"Hey Ruby? Yeah its me, listen, I need you to do a few things for me. Get Asura to go distract Yang and then go try to talk her out of RIPPING MY HEAD OFF!" Keiran shouted.

"Okay, okay! Just give us a minute, we aren't jumping out windows like you idiots are!" Ruby yelled back.

"Please hurry, Yang is probably halfway up the school building by now and-" He was cut off by something forcing him to the ground. Keiran turned around to see Yang standing over him and ready to kill. She grabbed him by the shirt and held him over her head. "Yang, if you would be so kind to let me explain I won't press charges."

"You have one minute!" Yang threatened. Keiran took a deep breath and tried to get his story straight.

"Ok, Ruby found out that I'm having nightmares, which sort of involve her. And on our way back from Vale she suggested staying in my room, in separate beds on opposite sides of the room, to be there if I have another one." Keiran closed his eyes as he finished and expected Yang to knock his head off. Instead, he felt himself hit the roof and saw Yang staring at him with a cheerful smile on her face.

"Oh is that all? Well that's okay," Yang said happily. Keiran looked up in disbelief, as Yang skipped away and off the roof.

"Did that really just happen?" He asked aloud. Keiran looked behind him and saw his scroll was still calling Ruby. He grabbed it and listened in to hear Ruby talking to Asura.

"I don't care what he said about you, Yang is about to kill him!" Ruby pleaded. Keiran cleared his throat and he heard Ruby tell Asura to shut up. "Keiran are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine and your sister is completely bipolar. Either that or now I'm having nightmares of Yang trying to murder me," Keiran explained.

"Judging by the fact you're still alive, I think this isn't a dream," Ruby countered. Keiran jumped off the roof and walked back into the dorm. It was still empty but looked like someone had just been there. He figured that Yang's rampage scared them off. He carefully stepped over the remains of team RWBY's door. He was amazed by how much force Yang must've used to force the pieces of broken wood that far down the hall.

"Just as easily could've been my face," Keiran nervously laughed. He saw his door to his room wide open and could here Ruby and Asura chatting. Judging by the tone they both used, they weren't concerned with Keiran's safety as much anymore. He stepped into the doorway and held his arms out to his sides. "Look who just escaped death!"

"Well I'll be damned. If only Lucas had been that lucky when he ruined Yang's hair," Asura joked. Ruby giggled at the thought and Keiran scratched the back of his head.

"I guess I should count myself lucky then, if the remains of your door are any indicator." Ruby's laughter died down slightly but was still happy Keiran came out of the whole ordeal unscathed.

"Well siddown Keiran, your lady is here and you should sit with her," Asura suggested. The comment made Keiran actually process what was happening tonight. Ruby was staying over, albeit not in the same bed but staying over nonetheless.

"Y-Yeah, I guess she is here." Keiran felt himself blush faintly and sat down next to Ruby. She rested her head on his shoulder and snuggled into his side, making Keiran slightly more embarrassed.

"Awww you two are so cute together!" Asura squealed. The couple both turned equally red and the navy haired girl giggled. "If you want, I can sleep in Ruby's room tonight so you can have some alone time."

"P-Please don't do that! I might wake up to Yang's fist primed to murder me!" Keiran pleaded. Asura laughed more as her partner squirmed. Ruby yawned and went into the bathroom to get changed, somewhat killing Asura's fun.

"Jeez, she really is a kid isn't she?"

"Just don't give her cookies before bed, the drastic increase of sugar might kill us both." Keiran shuddered as he remembered the dream of Ruby's cookie rampage. "But coffee is still okay, somehow."

"How does she take her coffee?" Asura asked. Keiran smiled and walked over to the coffee maker and pressed one button. Asura watched as it poured the coffee into a mug and quickly added cream and five sugar cubes.

"I told you this was the only functional birthday gift you got this year," Keiran declared. He placed another mug under the machine and pressed another button and the mug quickly filled with coffee and two sugars. "Lucky for us this thing has six presets."

"Which one are you?" The monk asked excitedly.

"Number three. You're number one because it's your coffee maker and Ruby is the second one since she drinks enough coffee to make a sloth move fast." Keiran placed his and Ruby's mugs on the bedside table and went to get one for Asura. He pressed the first button and came back with a coffee with cream and one sugar.

"Wow, and to think I was manually putting in the cream and sugar this whole time." She noted. Keiran went and grabbed a few spoons to mix the coffee and knocked on the bathroom door.

"There's coffee out here if you want any." There was a clattering behind the door and Keiran took a few steps back. The door swung open to reveal Ruby who was somewhat dressed. Her pajama pants were on, much to Keiran's relief, and her shirt was half on since her left arm was still sticking out the bottom and her right one was stuck inside the shirt. "But before you drink it, please feel free to finish getting your shirt on."

Ruby nodded before popping her right arm out of the tank top and doing the same with her left. Keiran handed her the coffee mug and grabbed his own.

Asura had finished stirring her coffee and turned to Ruby. So on a scale of one to ten, how badly did you screw up telling Yang you're idea for tonight?"

"Is one bad or good?"

"One is good, and ten is bad," Asura added.

Ruby placed her mug on the table and thought about it for several minutes. The other two sat in surprise at how long it was taking her. The evidence that was outside was more than enough to put it at a ten.

"I'd say about three," Ruby calmly stated. Keiran facepalmed and Asura fell off her bed in disbelief. "What I say?"

Instead of answering, Keiran decided to follow with a different question. "Why did I fall for you again?"

"Cause I'm adorable and really good in a fight. Plus you can't say no to me," Ruby said matter-of-factly.

"Thats right, just for that you can maybe have a cookie." Ruby bounced on the bed and clapped and Asura could only smile at her.

"You picked a real keeper, Keiran."

"She'll mature, eventually," Keiran said dismissively. Asura nodded as she climbed back on her bed.

"I know it's early but we should go to bed, I figure Ozpin or some other teacher might have something for us to do tomorrow," Asura advised. Ruby pouted immediately and Keiran looked fearful to fall asleep. "What's wrong leader? Scared of the dark?"

"No...it's something else..." Keiran stared off into space, leaving both girls worried, Ruby more than Asura.

"I-I was joking, no need to get all depressed." Asura waved her hands in the air to try and relieve the tension. Keiran tried to fake a smile and Ruby yawned again, despite the caffeine in her system.

"Looks like the little one needs to go down for the night," Keiran said. He walked over to Ruby, who had collapsed on her pillow, and pulled the blanket over her, before kissing her on the forehead and walking back to his bed. He laid down and faced the wall in front of him, not even bothering to crawl under his blankets. Keiran noticed Asura crawl under her blanket and fall asleep instantly. The dragoon reached over and shut off the lamp, leaving him in the darkness of the night.

_Hopefully Ruby's presence will make my dreams a bit more...enjoyable tonight. _Keiran hoped.

Unfortunately for the dragoon, his dreams would become all the more frightening on that very night.

* * *

**Author's Note: Did I portray Qrow okay? That's my main concern with this chapter. I also feel like I rushed the ending but I didn't feel like having an possible 10000+ word chapter right off the bat. Also be warned as the nightmares Keiran has (yes there will be more) may get more graphic as the story goes on. Anyway that's all from me, consider reviewing and look forward to chapter two, see ya later. **


	2. A Burning Fear

**Author's Note: Here's chapter 2. I felt like I needed to write more after that less than stellar chapter 16 I put out for Every King Has His KASL, which I blame on my love of episode 15 of RWBY. Also,Happy Halloween everyone!  
**

**Aside from my OC's and some of the plot, RWBY is owned by Monty Oum and RoosterTeeth, enjoy.**

* * *

Keiran and Ruby both ran at their enemy. They were worn from their battle and were getting desperate. They launched a simultaneous attack but were both knocked away by an invisible force. The pair landed a considerable distance away from each other and both stared at their seemingly unbeatable enemy.

"We're hitting him with everything we've got and he's barely got a scratch on him. Aside from that pity cut he gave himself," Keiran panted. Across the field, Ruby looked even more battle worn than Keiran but managed to stand up to continue. The dragoon dug deep and stood up, glaring at his target. "How has father become this strong? Even when I was a kid I could still land a hit and at least leave a bruise, but now it's like his skin is made of diamonds."

Keiran glared at his father, who was turning towards him and making himself as large of a target as possible. The dragoon growled as he let loose a volley of bullets that harmlessly bounced off his father's skin. Cronan walked forward, taking the full force of each bullet without so much as flinching. He closed in on his son, who was running out of ammo and time. Keiran tried to slash his father but found his attack stopped as swiftly as it began. The sword was wrenched from his grasp as Cronan grabbed his son by the throat and lifted him off the ground.

"You see what your efforts amount to? You see what your ignorance has caused?" His father preached. Keiran could feel his father's claws digging into his neck and he struggled to breath. "You could have come back with me, you could have lived the life you were meant to! Instead you chose to ignore me and fall in love with that pathetic wretch of a girl!"

Keiran kicked his father when he called Ruby a wretch, which only fueled his father's anger.

"And even now, in your final moments do you continue to resist me! So be it." Cronan drew back his free hand and tore through Keiran's left side. Blood poured onto the ground and there was a gaping hole where a decent portion of Keiran's body used to be. The dragoon tried to scream in pain but his father tightened his grip. "But your life shall not be ended by me, I'm not that generous."

The half man tossed his son a long distance and he slammed hard into a tree. Keiran tried to raise his head to see what his father had in store. Cronan pointed at Ruby, whose eyes suddenly changed to match the elder man. She walked over to the barely living Keiran and raised her scythe behind her.

"Ru...by?" Keiran croaked. His vision blacked out once again and he could only hear crescent rose slice though his neck.

* * *

"No!" Keiran shouted. He shot up from his bed, holding his head and breathing heavily. The dragoon was drenched in sweat and was shaking uncontrollably. He hugged himself tightly and whispered to himself. "My heads still on my shoulders. My organs still intact and no gaping hole in my body. I'm alive...I'm alive."

He peered over Asura to see Ruby peacefully sleeping and felt slightly relieved. Keiran laid back down and draped his arm over his forehead.

"Why was this one different? It doesn't fit the pattern," He whispered to himself. Keiran rolled over and stared at his two sleeping friends, who didn't even stir from their sleep when he awoke. "Maybe there is no pattern, maybe the universe is telling me that no matter how I think about this, I'm screwed."

Keiran looked out the window and saw the moon still high in the sky. He checked the clock and saw that it was only two in the morning. Knowing he wouldn't be getting anymore sleep, Keiran got up from his bed and changed into his combat clothes. He grabbed all his equipment and hopped out the window and ran off toward the Emerald Forest.

The dragoon arrived at the cliffs overlooking the forest and prepared himself. He remembered the last time he was at these cliffs, he was waiting for the initiation to begin and didn't give a damn who his partner was.

"Time to go back in and see if I'm really Beacon material." Keiran pushed an immense amount of aura into using his semblance and launched off the edge of the cliff. He rocketed through the air and scanned the area below for a clearing to land in.

He flew on for several minutes, occasionally landing on trees to begin another jump. The dragoon saw a safe spot to land in and nose dived right at the forest floor. Keiran rose from his crouch and looked around the clearing and when he saw no Grimm in the immediate area, he let out a triumphant shout to alert them to his presence. The amount of the soulless beasts charging towards him was overwhelming and Keiran's trembling increased as he felt the number of Grimm increase by the second.

"I have to do this, I have to test myself!" Keiran proclaimed. The waves of Grimm circled him and the clearing. There were so many hiding back in the trees that one could only see utter darkness in them. The first beowolf lunged at the dragoon and Keiran hesitantly struck it down. His hands were shaking uncontrollably and he needed to get it under control or else he would die. The next pair of enemies, an Ursa and a Boarbatusk, charged at the distressed dragoon. He fired off a bullet full of wind dust, which distracted the Ursa and knocked by the Boarbatusk skyward. Keiran jumped and slashed through its unprotected stomach before blasting a bullet through the Ursa's head. The two Grimm hit the ground and eight more ran in to take the places of their fallen comrades. Keiran landed between the eight Beowolves and swung his sword in a wide circle, using a bullet infused with lightning dust to create a wider area of attack.

The smoking bodies of the eleven dead Grimm had vanished and Keiran remained rooted to the center of the clearing. Another group of Ursi lumbered toward Keiran and he steeled himself for their assault. He jumped back and dodged a few large paws before severing said paws from the attacking Ursa. The remaining six Ursa ran over their fallen brother and charged at their assailant. Keiran took to the air and fired off a barrage of bullets at his enemies. Each of the bullets carried varying types of dust and from two of the dying Ursa spawned a small fire, three spawned a small windstorm that scattered the fire to the trees and the last one froze most of the ground. The beowolves hiding in the crowd of Grimm fled, reducing their numbers by half.

Keiran looked down from his altitude and smiled hesitantly at the fleeing monsters. "There goes half the army, I'll call them back later." The dragoon reloaded his sniper rifle before landing in the midst of the brewing forest fire. He took a deep breath to calm himself but coughed at the amount of smoke he inhaled. Four Boarbatusks charged at Keiran, who stood behind the frozen ground to let the rolling Grimm slide toward him. When their underbelly became exposed, Keiran twirled his sword into a reverse grip and slashed through them all.

At that point, most of the Grimm that had gathered were fleeing on account of the forest fire and fear of their impending demise. The few who remained could still smell the fear that stuck to Keiran like glue. Keiran looked around and counted fifty Grimm remaining and got ready to face them all.

"Come and get me you monsters! If you're afraid of dying then I'll make it quick!" He bellowed. As he finished his threat, all the remaining Grimm rushed at Keiran, who smirked at the daunting challenge ahead. The smoke from the forest fire around the battle was now high enough for even the students of Beacon to see.

* * *

Ruby was roused from her sleep by the smell of smoke coming in through the window. At first she thought it was Yang sleep-cooking again but when she checked the time she knew it was something else.

"That smoke is coming from the forest!" She concluded. The younger girl stepped away from the window and hastily shook Asura awake.

"Huh? W-what's going on Ruby? Why are you up so early?" Asura asked sleepily.

"The forest is on fire and Keiran is missing! We might be the only ones awake, so we have to see whats going on!" Ruby explained. She dragged Asura out of bed and the navy haired girl hit the floor with a thud. "Hurry up lazy bones! We have to go help Keiran!"

When Ruby shouted the second time, Asura shot straight up and grabbed her weapons and ran out the door. Ruby grabbed her cloak, crescent rose and a few ammo clips before following after her blue haired compatriot.

They ran through the courtyard and saw the flames building up around a certain area of the forest.

"That must be where Keiran is! We gotta hurry!" Asura yelled. Ruby nodded as she caught up to the monk. The younger girl took her temporary teammates hand and used her semblance to increase their pace. They got to the cliffs and tried to think of a way to get to Keiran as quick as possible.

"Why don't we just use the launch pads?" Asura fretted.

"No time for that! Hang on!" Ruby ordered. Asura grabbed her hand as Ruby jumped off the edge of the cliff. She increased her speed drastically and within seconds they were entering the perimeter of the fire. They slowed down but kept a quick pace into the depths of the flames.

They discovered several burnt Grimm lying on the ground and followed the trail of them, hoping to find Keiran. The pair entered the flaming clearing to see Keiran lying unconsciously on the forest floor. There were several burns on his body along with his very minor wounds. The only problem now was traversing through the intense flames that surrounded him.

"How are we gonna get to him?" Asura asked. Ruby tensed up at the shock of the situation before hiding in her cloak and running into the flames. "Ruby! Wait!"

The flames licked at Ruby, who had raised her aura to provide some protection against the intense heat and smoke around her. She reached Keiran and hoisted him over her shoulder. She turned to run back the way she came but was stopped when a burning tree fell in her path.

"Ruby are you okay?" Asura called from behind the flames.

"I'm fine, but you need to get out of here before things get any worse!" Ruby called back. She put more of her aura into shielding herself as she walked around the tree.

"What about you?"

"I'll be okay, I'm a lot faster than you anyway. Now get going!" Ruby shouted her last order and prayed Asura listened to her. She pulled part of her cloak over her face and used her speed to get out and around. Ruby got a considerable distance from the still spreading flames in a short amount of time. But after using her aura to run and shield herself she was finally beginning to feel fatigued.

Ruby dropped to her knees and looked back to see the flames slowly approaching.

"At least I can lecture you for this in the afterlife," Ruby lamented. She closed her eyes and cried, knowing that she wasn't going to make it out of this ordeal.

That was when a hand touched her shoulder and caught her attention. Ruby opened her eyes to see Keiran's glowing hand on her shoulder and felt her energy returning.

"Keiran, is this your aura?" Ruby asked in bewilderment. The dragoon nodded weakly and let his hand drop, which Ruby swiftly caught. "Why'd you give me your aura, you need it more?!"

"You're...our only...chance..." Keiran croaked before passing out once again. Ruby picked up the unconscious dragoon with a look of determination and used her renewed energy to speed her way to safety.

Ruby and the incapacitated Keiran arrived back the cliffs relatively unscathed. Ruby's cloak was scorched from the fire but other than that she was fine. Keiran however, was in worse shape than ever. He had a large cut across his face and various smaller cuts scattered along his body, his burns looked more painful than anything Ruby had ever seen and she grimaced at the sight. Asura was waiting at the base of the cliff and offered to carry Keiran up the rest of the way. Ruby refused and walked over to the staircase that had been built to arrive back at the top.

The trio arrived at the top to see the fire had stopped spreading and was starting to die down. They were also met with the appearance of Professor Ozpin and a medical team.

"Are any of you seriously injured?" The headmaster asked. Ruby nodded as she gently place Keiran on the ground, revealing his injuries. Ozpin motioned for the medical team to get Keiran to the infirmary and turned back to Ruby. "Did he say anything about how this happened?"

"No sir, we found him unconscious in the middle of it all sir," Asura explained. Ozpin looked out to the forest, where there was a very noticeable space where the fire was dying down.

"Well, we can't ask him anything until he recovers. So he's free of punishment until then," Ozpin stated. Ruby nodded and walked away, with Asura following closely behind her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Asura asked in concern. Ruby nodded and closed in on the paramedics who were carrying Keiran away. The monk shrugged and chased after her friend and partner.

* * *

Keiran was placed in an I.C.U and left to recover alone. Ruby and Asura waited pensively outside the room, the former feeling more exhausted than ever. Asura noted her friend's exhaustion and turned to her in concern.

"Ruby, you need some rest. You're exhausted."

"N-No! I need to stay here until he wakes up," Ruby protested. Asura reached over and placed her hand firmly on Ruby's shoulder.

"The doctors said he might not wake up for several days. Are you willing to sit here in your current state for that long?" Asura lectured. Ruby almost nodded off but caught herself and shook her head. "Look, I'll stay here, I'm in better shape than you are. If the doctors have any news I'll tell you immediately."

Ruby nodded and wandered out of the waiting room and Asura let out a sigh as the younger girl finally left. She took a quick look at the door and could see the shadows of the doctors feverishly working around Keiran, which only worried her more.

"Keiran, please be okay."

* * *

**Author's Note: Did I make Keiran seem to OP when fighting the Grimm? If I did I apologize, but he was just blowing off some steam. Also I hope it was a good thing I left out some more graphic stuff from the nightmare at the beginning, cause it was originally supposed to be much more gruesome. Anyway that's all from me, please consider leaving a review and look forward to chapter 3 of this and chapter 17 of every king has his kasl, see ya later.**


	3. A Rude Awakening

**Author's Note: Here's chapter 3. Be warned as stuff in this chapter may get a little dramatic, also some people may be OOC in this chapter. **

**Aside from my OC's and some of the plot, RWBY is owned by Monty Oum and RoosterTeeth, enjoy.**

* * *

Three days had passed since Keiran's little escapade in the forest and he was still unconscious. The doctors had allowed visitors but they didn't give the greatest visiting hours. The only person who stayed for longer than the doctors permitted was Ruby. The only time Ruby left his side was for classes but every second between she spent watching over him.

After combat training Ruby and Yang decided to check on the dragoon. They arrived to the doctors standing over him, mostly likely doing some tests to make sure everything was in working order.

"Is everything alright?" Ruby asked nervously. The head doctor turned back to face her before nodding. "Is it okay if we visit him?"

"Sure, but he won't be saying much," The doctor answered angrily. Ruby looked to the floor as her sister glared at the medical professionals. They hurried their pace and left the sisters to watch over their friend.

"What do you think made him fly off the handle like that?" Yang asked quietly. Ruby didn't respond and just stared at Keiran, who was sleeping peacefully in the hospital bed.

"Look at him. He doesn't even have a care in the world," Ruby noted. Yang looked at the dragoon and noticed she was right. Despite his injuries, Keiran didn't show the slightest bit of pain on his face. Instead he had a satisfied smile on his face as he slept. "What do you think he's dreaming about?"

"Judging by the look on his face, it's either you or something else he enjoys, Keiran is a bit of an enigma," Yang stated. Ruby smiled as she continued to look at Keiran. Yang placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder and smiled even wider. "This is the longest I've seen him smile."

"Think it will last?" Ruby asked sarcastically. Yang laughed and shook her head. "Didn't think so. He'll probably deny the very thought of smiling when he wakes up."

"Wanna test that?" Yang asked with a smirk.

"How would we do that?" Ruby asked as she gave her sister a confused glance. Yang smiled and faked a kiss and Ruby caught on instantly, along with a bright tinge of pink on her face. "Y-You mean like in the fairy tale?"

"If you're willing to wait another few days for him to wake up that's fine," Yang said flatly as she crossed her arms.

"L-Let's not be too hasty," Ruby protested. Yang giggled and back away. Ruby fidgeted and turned back to her sister. "I-In the story, it was the prince kissing the princess, not the other way around."

"I'm sure it will work just fine," Yang said reassuringly. Ruby blushed a little more as she walked a bit closer to Keiran's bed. Taking one last glance at her sister, who gave a quick thumbs up, Ruby leaned in for the kiss. She was inches from his face when Keiran coughed violently and scared Ruby away. The dragoon coughed up some charcoal, which had ended up on Ruby's face.

"OH crap! What did I do?" Ruby asked. Yang, who was just as surprised, didn't have an answer. Keiran slowly opened his eyes and took in his blurred view of the room.

"When did the world become a water-color painting?" He asked sarcastically. He felt the charcoal on his face and saw it on Ruby's. "And when did my bodily fluids become charcoal?"

"Good to see you haven't lost your sense of humor," Yang smiled.

Keiran shook his head and wiped the charcoal off his lips. "No, seriously. Everything looks like a water-color painting and I feel like a roasted marshmallow."

"Ruby, go see if we can give him some water, I'll stay and keep an eye on him," Yang suggested. Ruby nodded and rushed out of the room as Yang sat down next the now conscious Keiran. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be better once I can feel my legs again." The dragoon painfully propped himself into a sitting position to see his friend.

"Well that's good to hear. By the way, Ruby wanted to know what you were dreaming about," Yang added.

"I was dreaming about... taking a stroll through the woods with my mom," He answered sheepishly.

"You're a real momma's boy aren't you?" Yang smirked. Keiran scowled and looked away in embarrassment as Ruby returned.

"I got the okay from the doctors and a bottle of...why is Keiran looking so embarrassed?" She walked over the bed and didn't notice the giant smirk on Yang's face.

"Your boyfriend is such a momma's boy, I wouldn't be surprised if he has a fetish for it. Does he Ruby?" Yang joked. Now both of them were paralyzed in surprise. Keiran was unable to walk so Ruby went and smacked Yang for him. "What was that for?"

"Way. To. Far." Keiran growled. Ruby nodded in agreement before handing him the bottle of water. He took a long sip before continuing to glare at Yang.

"How could you say such a thing Yang, I'm your sister!" Ruby scolded. Yang sunk into her chair with a faint smile as Ruby glared. "Worst yet, you're implying that we've...done that already!"

"Why do I feel like I'm talking to Weiss?" Yang wondered aloud. Ruby ignored the question and Keiran smiled through his glare.

"Why would that thought even enter your mind?" Ruby questioned.

"To be fair, you've made those kind of jokes about me," Yang stated. That piqued Keiran interest as Ruby stopped mid-lecture.

"I...That's because...No fair!" Ruby pouted. She stomped back to Keiran's bed as Yang looked on smugly, leaving Keiran confused and hesitant to speak.

"Is this something I should get involved with, or should I shut up?" the dragoon asked. The girls both ignored him, leading Keiran to try and get out of his bed. He quickly felt the numbness in his legs and collapsed to his knees. "Oh right, can't feel my legs."

The sisters stopped their argument and helped Keiran to his feet. The dragoon groaned as he was carelessly placed on the bed. Ruby looked at him with a condescending glare and Yang laughed to herself.

"What the hell are you thinking?" Ruby yelled.

"Well one, I need to go to the bathroom and two, I need to get back to training." Keiran pulled the IV out of his hand and used his arms to swing his legs off the bed, only to be met with an angered Ruby.

"Are you serious?" Ruby stared down at Keiran, who nodded calmly and tried to stand again. The next thing anyone heard was a loud smack as Ruby slapped Keiran in the face. "No! You sit down and listen!"

"What's there to listen to? Unless I can get stronger, all the dreams I've had are gonna come to pass! If I sit around here any longer, you and everyone else I care about are going to die!" Keiran yelled back. Another slap filled the room and Keiran had matching hand prints on both sides of his face.

"Are you that deluded? The only thing you're going to accomplish like this is getting us all killed! So until you're back at one hundred percent, you are gonna stay right here and rest. If you don't, I will come back with crescent rose and kill you myself!" Ruby shouted.

Once Ruby finished yelling, a third slap sounded throughout the room, except this time it was Yang slapping Ruby.

"What the hell is the matter with you two? The blonde wondered. She turned to Keiran and added another hand print to his right cheek before continuing. "You two are a couple, and I'm not saying you two should never fight, but you shouldn't threaten to kill him and you shouldn't be putting her in danger by being a dumbass!"

Keiran and Ruby were stunned. Keiran because of the realization of his idiocy and Ruby from the dire threat she just made. Silence filled the room as Yang calmed down and stepped back. Keiran was the first to try and say something, but couldn't find the words.

"I-I'm sorry," Ruby apologized. She was met with more silence as Keiran looked away, obviously upset and possibly scared. "Please forgive me, I wasn't thinking when I said that! I could've said anything!"

"So when it comes down to it, you'd kill me?" He asked with some hostility.

"Keiran I-"

"You've said enough!" He interrupted. Ruby shrunk back in fear as Yang stepped forward, ready to knock some sense into him. "I'm obviously not that important to you! I want to be sure I can protect you and you threaten to end my life?"

"I didn't mean it!" Ruby cried. Tears were forming in her eyes as Keiran's anger increased with each word she spoke.

"All I want is to protect the most important person in my life, and you won't even let me do that!" Unable to take his words, Ruby dropped the ground and held her head in her hands as she cried. Keiran felt bad for what he was saying but hid it under his angry demeanor for the time being. "Just...leave me alone."

Yang, who was incredibly angry, helped her sister to her feet and led her out of the room. The blonde turned back to glare at Keiran, who glared right back, before leaving the room. Once the door closed, Keiran felt a wave of exhaustion and regret wash over him.

"What have I done?" He asked himself.

* * *

Keiran was allowed to leave the infirmary the following morning, albeit on crutches. He was exempt from combat class and allowed to leave any other classes if he felt too exhausted, as suggestion even he thought was unfair.

The whole first day after his return to class, Ruby and Keiran practically broadcasted the tension between them to the whole school. Ruby couldn't look at him without feeling the urge to cry and Keiran couldn't keep himself from violently venting his anger when he so much as heard her name.

The true test came when they three teams sat together for lunch. Keiran and Ruby sat as far away from each other as possible, the latter being somewhat protected by her sister. Keiran refrained from even looking at Ruby, who felt even more upset with each passing second. The tension had built to the point where even someone like Cardin could notice and Jaune decided to speak up.

"Is something going on between you two?" The words barely left his mouth as Keiran slammed his fist on the table which made Ruby jump slightly. Yang comforted her sister and turned to Keiran, who was shaking with rage.

"No! Everything is fine!" Keiran lied. The dragoon used the table to stand and walked off with his crutches without even touching his lunch, which Lucas promptly devoured.

"What's his deal?" Asura asked loudly. No one at the table had an answer, aside from the saddened leader of team RWBY and her increasingly angry sister. Yang gripped the table to the point it was beginning to crack. Pyrrha and Jaune noticed and backed away fearfully as Yang's aura burned with fury.

"I'll be right back," She growled. Everyone watched as Yang chased after Keiran, who, despite his crutches, was still moving at a very fast pace.

Yang caught up and gripped Keiran's shoulder tightly. The dragoon responded by swinging one of his crutches at Yang's head, which she easily caught. Knowing he was still unable to walk, Yang kicked the other crutch out from underneath Keiran, causing him to land comically on the ground.

"What the hell, Yang!" Keiran whined.

"No, you shut up and listen!" Yang ordered. Keiran opened his mouth to protest but Yang quickly bashed him across the face with the crutch she still held. "Do you really think you can treat Ruby like a piece of trash?"

"That's none of your concern!" Keiran protested. That earned him another wound from his crutches and a small cut on his face.

"Like hell it isn't! Ruby's my sister, and I'm supposed to look after her!" Yang wound up for another swing with the crutch she still held but Keiran grabbed the other one and swept her legs with it. She hit the ground with a quiet thud and responded by kicking Keiran right in the face. The dragoon skidded across the stone ground until he hit the statue. He looked up to see Yang angrily marching towards him, both crutches in hand and incredibly angry. "You think I like seeing her like that? You think I enjoy having to do this?"

"How do you think I feel?" He shouted back. Yang stopped and noticed the apparent sadness on Keiran's face. "Do you know what it feels like to be haunted? Or what it feels like to fear for the person you care about the most and not know when they can be taken from you?"

"What kind of question is that?" Yang asked with confused anger.

"Do you know how it feels to see the possibility of that loved one ending your life?! You don't and that's why I said what I did! I can't let her be my weakness, I can't let her be a tool to be used against me!" Students were starting to gather around the two as Keiran's voice grew louder. Near the front of the crowd stood Ruby, who was more scared than anything and seeing her made Keiran even angrier. "Until she came along I was fine. I was on the path to being strong enough to face my father, but now I've become weak, and it's her fault!"

Ruby stepped forward as he spoke, each word hitting her like a train. Tears flowed down her cheeks as the harshness of Keiran's words cut across her heart. "You don't mean that, do you?"

The dragoon turned to her and Ruby saw his angered expression waver for the briefest of moments before it turned to one of pure rage.

"Get out of my sight! I don't need anymore of your help! Even if I did, I wouldn't ask for it anyway!" Keiran felt his fingernails dig into his palms and felt his blood drip out of his hands. Ruby shrunk back before disappearing into the crowd with Yang preparing to follow her. The blonde stopped and gave Keiran a worried glance before speaking.

"You promised me you wouldn't dream of hurting her, and now look what you've done." Yang watched as Keiran's anger faded before tossing him his crutches and chasing after her sister. He dragged himself along the ground to retrieve his crutches before thinking about Yang's words and the promise he made to her and Qrow.

_I wouldn't dream of hurting her. _His promise to Yang echoed through his mind and then he remembered his talk with Qrow a few days ago. _"Don't do anything to hurt her, got it?" "I haven't hurt her so far, I plan on keeping that streak going." _

"She's right, I did promise not to hurt her," Keiran told himself. He hobbled to the dorm as fast as his crutches could carry him. He raced down the hall to team RWBY's room and knocked on the door, which had been replaced during his three-day nap. There was no answer and Keiran figured Ruby was somewhere else. He hobbled back to his room and flopped down on his bed. "This all started with those damn dreams."

"Those weren't dreams," A voice rang out. When the words were spoken, Keiran received a skull splitting headache and collapsed onto his bed. "You know how real those felt, too real to be dreams."

"W-What are you...talking about?" Keiran struggled to ask. The voice laughed and someone walked out of the freshly formed shadows in the corner of the room. It was a man, roughly the same size as Keiran. He had brown hair with a few gray spots, his skin was a faded pink and his eyes were green and void of life.

"I'm saying that those 'dreams' you've been having are really premonitions. Possible futures that can come to pass." The man walked up to Keiran and tapped him on the head, causing the boy more pain. "Or that was the case before your little escapade in the forest, now the future can no longer be limited to the ones you've seen."

Keiran reached for his crutches, only to fall off his bed and onto his back. He writhed in pain as the stranger's voice became more and more distorted.

"Now we'll see if the future is on your side, farewell!" The man leaped towards the window as the sound of footsteps echoed from outside. The man stopped in the window sill and turned to Keiran, who was struggling to keep his skull from exploding. "We'll meet again soon, but don't expect to survive."

The man jumped out the window as the door opened. Keiran could see several blurred out figures, one of which came to his immediate aid. A few others ran to the window and one, who he assumed was Blake, jumped out the window to pursue the man.

"Keiran, stay with us!" A distorted voice told him. The dragoon winced in pain before passing out from the headache. The last thing he felt before losing full consciousness was his body being placed onto a soft fabric.

"Just...my luck...huh?"

* * *

**Author's Note: So Keiran was a bit of a dick in this chapter, wasn't he? That was more or less how he was originally supposed to be in every king has his kasl, and I may go back and rewrite some of the chapters so he is like that. Also the dreams are really premonitions. I know that's really cliche, but I went for it, sorry if that didn't surprise you. That's all from me for tonight, it's 1am and I had a really long day, so consider reviewing and look forward to chapter 4, see ya later.**


	4. A Deafening Truth

**Author's Note: Here's chapter four, I don't have much to say here but except that sometime after the final episode of RWBY season 1 is released, chapter 17 and possibly 18 will be in for Every King Has His KASL, now let's get on with the show.**

**Aside from my OC's and parts of the plot, RWBY is owned by Monty Oum and RoosterTeeth, enjoy.**

* * *

Asura lifted Keiran onto his bed as Blake jumped out the window to chase the intruder. The faunus gracefully landed and pursued the man as quick as she could.

_He's fast, but I can't let him get away. _Blake grabbed gambol shroud and held it in a reverse grip while picking up speed. Her target increased his speed accordingly to keep a steady distance from Blake. "Get back here!"

"You have to catch me first!" The man retorted. Blake swore she saw him give her a playful grin, which irritated her even more.

"Fine then," Blake responded. She skidded to a stop and got ready to throw gambol shroud. "Tag, you're it!" Gambol shroud launched from Blake's hand and wrapped around the escapee's leg, dragging him to the ground. "So, you ready to answer some questions?"

"I commend your ability in capturing me, but I'm afraid I have to go. My master would have my head if he found out I was captured." The man's leg turned into a strange liquid and escaped the ribbon of gambol shroud. Blake tried to strike the man with gambol shroud's sheath but her target's body bent in half to dodge the strike. "As much as I'd like to fight you, that's something we will have to try another time, farewell!"

The man kicked Blake in the stomach before jumping off the cliff and into the water below.

"Wait!" Blake shouted. She stumbled to the edge of the cliff as the man hit the water below. She wouldn't have believed the next bit if she wasn't seeing it with her own eyes. Instead of disappearing under the water, the man started running across the water at incredible speeds. "H-How is he capable of something like that?"

Blake recovered gambol shroud and returned to the dorm, trying to find a way to explain what just happened.

"Those feats he performed were far from human. I've never seen someone's body bend like that, and I've definitely never seen any faunus or human capable of running on water. And the 'master' he mentioned obviously proved he isn't working alone, but with who?" She pondered. Blake walked through the courtyard, trying her best to keep her thoughts to herself before one imperative thought entered her mind. "Why would Keiran know someone like that?"

She reached the dorm and hesitantly opened the door, she was greeted by the empty lounge and a faint conversation from team KASL's room. Blake walked down the hall and listened as the voices grew louder.

"...Why would he tell you something like that?!" Asura shouted.

"Hell if I know! He just told me what was on his mind okay!" Lucas shouted back. It was times like these Blake cursed her faunus hearing but instead of telling them to stop, she snuck in behind Weiss and watched.

"But I'm his partner, he should be able to trust me with that kind of secret," Asura said weakly.

"Perhaps he didn't you, or any of us to worry," Pyrrha interrupted. The arguing teammates turned to the crimson haired girl who decided to step in as a mediator. "I think he told Lucas because he figured that it wouldn't worry him as much as it would any of us."

"You think so?" Jaune pried.

"That's only what I think, perhaps Keiran was going to tell anyone who was around when it first happened." Pyrrha added. Blake stood in the back, silent and puzzled by whatever 'it' was.

"Forgive my intrusion..." Blake interrupted. Everyone jumped back when Blake revealed her presence, much to her amusement before she continued. "But would any of you care to tell me the secret that Keiran told Lucas?"

"Blake? When the hell did you sneak in here?" Lucas asked aloud. The others nodded in agreement to his question, increasing Blake's amusement at her sneaking abilities.

"While you two were still shouting at each other, but that's beside the point. Care to fill me in?" Blake repeated.

"Well about ten days ago Keiran began having some rather disturbing nightmares and told me about it, and I figure you know the rest," Lucas explained. Blake nodded and walked over to Keiran, who was clearly in pain and fighting the headache that still plagued him.

"Perhaps that is what made him act so rashly the other night," Blake theorized. She turned to Lucas, who was nodding in agreement. "Can you fix his legs?"

"Huh?"

"Your healing dust, can it restore the feelings in his legs so he can walk again?" Blake asked calmly. Lucas looked to his side and noticed his pouch of dust he carried around.

"It should work, but it wouldn't make much sense to do that now, since he isn't awake or anything."

"True, but it may take a while, best to do it now so we don't have to wait for it to take effect," Blake pressured. Lucas groaned as he reached for his pouch and opened it, spreading a fair amount of green dust on each leg. Blake flashed a satisfied smile before turning back to the group. "Now, on the matter of Keiran's assailant."

"Yeah what happened with him?" Jaune piped up. Blake frowned and looked about the room, trying to think of an excuse but came up with nothing.

"That's the tough part, I'm not sure how to explain it," She stated.

"What do you mean? You didn't let him escape, did you?" Weiss pressured. Blake glared at the heiress before turning to the rest of the group.

"I did catch him but the way he escaped is what threw me off."

"What do you mean?" Weiss pried.

"His leg, it turned into some strange liquid like substance and his body folded in half when I tried to attack him." Everyone looked skeptical of Blake's story and they had the right, it's tough to believe something you never saw. "The strangest part was that when he dove off the cliffs, he ran on the water instead of crashing underneath it."

Silence filled the room as Blake finished her story. Disapproving looks on there faces, mixed with some anger or frustration. Finally, Lucas stepped forward and looked right at Blake, who expected the most negative response of all.

Which she got.

"That's a load of crap," Lucas declared.

"I'm serious!" Blake protested. Asura stepped forward and placed a hand on Blake's shoulder to comfort her.

"We're sorry Blake, but it's hard for us to believe something like that when we didn't see it."

"Well fine, if none of you will believe me then I guess none of you want to listen about some crucial information I got out of him," Blake pouted.

"I'd like to hear it." Keiran rose from his bed and slowly walked over to the middle of the group. Everyone looked surprised by his quick recovery and even more so by how he was walking. "Don't worry about me, I'm more concerned about what Darius wanted."

"Darius? You mean that guy who we scared off?" Lucas asked. Keiran nodded and stood up a bit straighter.

"He mentioned something about a master but I don't know what or who he could've meant," Blake explained. Keiran nodded as he listened and everyone else tried to believe it, considering Blake's last story.

"He was probably referring to my father. They used to be good friends from what I remember," Keiran walked over to his desk and grabbed something out of the top drawer and produced a photo of himself standing in front of his father and Darius. Everyone gathered to see it as Keiran mentioned something. "He doesn't look much younger than he does now but the weird thing is, I received this picture in a letter from my dad after I started my training at Signal."

"That would mean that your father is still alive and knew where you were," Asura noted.

Keiran nodded and pointed to something in the background. "Look there, that's my mother's grave. That means this picture was taken after I left home."

"That's bizarre, how would your father be able to get you in a picture after you ran away?" Nora asked with a dramatic volume to her voice.

"Beats the hell outta me but this whole situation is making me want to go back home and check it out." Keiran stuffed the photo in his pocket and grabbed his gear. Everyone looked at each other and then back at Keiran and finally Sam stepped up.

"You can't do this alone, you're not fully healed and it could be more dangerous than what happened in the forest," She pleaded. Keiran didn't respond as he put on his helmet and headed for the door. Lucas stormed forward and grabbed his leader by the shoulder.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" He shouted.

"Going to investigate, what do you think?" Keiran responded emotionlessly. The boys glared at each other for several moments before Lucas' gaze turned to a smile.

"Without me? You know it wouldn't be any fun if I wasn't there," Lucas smirked. Keiran smiled at his teammate, who was getting his gear as well. "Now, where are we headed?"

"To the outskirts of Vale, it shouldn't be too hard to find. Not like everyone else builds brick houses out in the woods." Keiran opened the door and walked calmly down the hall, he figured Lucas was getting some sense talked into him since he was still in the dorm room. "Hurry up or I'm leaving you behind!"

With that, Lucas calmly walked out the door and waving to the people still inside before closing it. He walked up beside Keiran and nodded to show he was ready.

The pair walked to the airship hangar and noticed only one ship was docked and waiting for people to board it. Seeing it as their last chance, Keiran and Lucas made a break for it. They showed the captain their student cards as they ran past the closing doors. The ship was empty which was perfect for the boys as it gave them no problems for discussing their plan.

"So what are we going to do when we get there? How do we even know your dad is still there and how do we know he won't kill us?" Lucas asked.

"I'm still working on the when we get there part and he will be there. He lived in that house since before he married my mom. As for your third question, I can't answer that, sorry," Keiran responded. Lucas slumped in his seat as the ship took off. Keiran leaned back and stared out the window to take in the view. He told himself it would be better if he was with... He shook his head to remove those thoughts and tried to focus on something else. "Who do you think that impostor was in the photo?"

"Im not sure but he sure looked like you, maybe you have a twin."

"That's impossible I'm an only child and I doubt my father would hide... Maybe you're right," Keiran responded. Lucas gave a satisfied look as he relaxed slightly. There was a commotion from the upper level of the ship that caught their attention. The boys stood up only to see something fall on the floor. Upon closer inspection they realized it was a flash grenade. "Cover your eyes!"

Keiran covered his but Lucas wasn't as fortunate. The sound that rang out almost deafened both of them but Keiran managed to protect his sight. Several men dressed in riot control outfits dropped from the vent above, quickly filling the passenger area. The dragoon shoved his teammate back and grabbed his sword. He knew his hearing was temporarily gone, so he tried to keep all of them in his line of sight, knowing full well that he wouldn't stand a chance if he was surrounded. Keiran noticed one of the officers talk and tried to read his lips, which is hard when the person whose lips your trying to read are covered by a face-mask.

"Dammit, what are you saying!" Keiran felt himself say. At least he hoped that was what he said. Instead of waiting for the answer he couldn't hear, Keiran dashed forward and disarmed one of the officers. The closest one opened fire and Keiran stepped out of the way, letting the bullets hit the officer behind him. Keiran smirked as he dashed towards the still shooting soldier and crushed his hand.

"Your aim is lousy, what are you shooting at?" he taunted. Another officer tried to shoot Keiran but hit his one handed ally. Keiran retained his smirk as he switched his weapon into sniper mode. He stopped in front of Lucas as he looked down the barrel of the gun. "Guess I'll have to show you how it's done again, huh? With that he squeezed the trigger and put a bullet into an officer's leg, who promptly dropped to the ground and screamed in terror. Keiran feigned disappointment as he switched back to his sword. "Guess my aim isn't to great either, I was aiming for your head."

He took a quick count of what he was up against. One disarmed officer, two dead ones, one wounded and eight remaining. He shrugged and dashed across the limited space of the passenger area. He slashed away a few oncoming bullets before chopping two guns in half and proceeded to crack two skulls together. The men crumpled to the floor as Keiran advanced on the remaining six, who formed a semi-circle around him.

"Seriously? You're gonna gang up on little old me? For shame," He felt himself say. His hearing was slowly returning and could slightly hear his own voice and could faintly hear the bullets fly past him. A few grazed parts of his body and Keiran felt faint trickles of blood on his arms. He turned and dropped his taunting attitude immediately. "That's it! I may not be allowed to kill you but you can be sure I'm gonna hurt you!"

Keiran leapt ahead and broke one officer's arm to the point the bone broke through the skin. He grabbed the arm and stabbed it into the neighboring soldier's lung. The two wounded soldiers cried out in pain and the one missing a lung fired his gun at Keiran, who backflipped out of the way. He stopped in front of a panicked soldier and severed his arm. The dragoon grabbed the removed appendage and bashed the next soldier over the head with it. The four soldiers dropped to the ground in pain and Keiran noticed one was missing.

"Weren't their six of you left? Or did I hit one of you so hard you ceased to exist?" He asked sarcastically. The remaining soldier suddenly looked confident and Keiran quickly realized why. The dragoon whirled around to see his teammate being held at gunpoint and the second soldier with his finger eagerly hovering over the trigger. Keiran dropped his sword by his feet and raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, you win."

"Not so fast, kick your sword over here," The second soldier ordered. Keiran smirked as he heard the order. The dragoon placed his foot on the sword and pressed down.

"You really should word your demands better," Keiran smirked. The soldier looked at him in confusion, which quickly changed to fear as Keiran's sword was driving through his hand and his gun. The soldier grabbed his wrist as his hand and damaged weapon fell to the ground. Keiran whirled around and delivered a swift kick to the head and knocked him out, all while keeping his hands behind his head. Keiran walked over and retrieved his weapon from the wall before looking down at the soldier. He couldn't resist the urge to make a snide remark and did so without missing a beat. "I gotta hand it to you though, that was a pretty clever trick taking my friend hostage. Next time just ask for a hand in keeping yours."

The soldier groaned before passing out from the pain. Keiran smirked at his pun and helped Lucas to his feet.

"What happened?" He asked randomly. Keiran was worried about his friend's hearing and snapped his fingers by his ears. The dragoon made a quick glance at the fallen soldier but resisted the urge to say something offensive. "Quit snapping your fingers, I can hear you!"

"Good, can you see?" Keiran moved on. Lucas held his thumb out sideways and the dragoon sighed. "It's better than a no." Keiran looked out the window and saw several red and blue lights flashing near the dock. "I doubt we're gonna be able to get out of this one."

Lucas grabbed his katana from his waist and slung it over his shoulder. Despite his slightly impaired vision, he was ready to fight. Keiran instead sheathed his sword and sat down, much to Lucas' confusion.

"Come on! We need to get ready to fight!" Lucas begged.

"If I'm in trouble with the police now, I don't wanna know how much more trouble I'll be in if I try to fight them all off."

"We don't have to kill them, just subdue enough of them to get away. We could even steal a cop car." Lucas seemed dead set on fighting his way through the police and Keiran was just as determined to let himself be taken in. The samurai quickly relented and sat down opposite of Keiran. "Fine, we'll do it your way."

* * *

The ship docked and the police quickly gathered around the ship to prevent any means of escape.

"Alright, come out with your hands up and we won't use deadly force!" the captain bellowed through his megaphone. In immediate response to the order the main hatch opened and Keiran stepped out, hands behind his head and weaponless. Several officers ran up and subdued the dragoon and a few more ran in to check on the officers inside. Keiran managed to shake off the officers around him and walked down the ramp, dodging the attempts to catch him. Lucas was dragged out along with the wounded officers while the dead ones were carried out on stretchers.

The captain met his captive and looked at him in a condescending manner.

"You're in a heap of trouble, boy."

"For what? Disarming and wounding a few officers and goading the rest into shooting each other? I'd say thats a few months to a couple years," Keiran countered.

"Don't play dumb with me, you're wanted for the murder of this man." The captain took a photo out of his jacket and showed it to Keiran, who was instantly shocked by who he saw.

It was a picture of Uncle Qrow.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please don't hate me for killing off Uncle Qrow, I just couldn't find any use for him later on and I needed someone to kill off. Also the weird body manipulation demonstrated by Darius was inspired my Majin Buu from DBZ, so thank Akira Toriyama if you liked that. Also the new episode of RvB left me with some major feels, Wash is such a brave soldier and Donut kicked some giant robot ass so that's always fun. Anyway, that's all from me for now, consider reviewing and look forward to chapter 5 or chapter 17 of every king has his kasl, whichever I get to first, see ya later.**


	5. Let The Search Begin

**Author's Note: I finally got this chapter done! I hope I didn't keep you all waiting too long but I've been busy with school and things have been piling up. Anyway, without further delay, let's start chapter 5. **

**Aside from my OC's and some of the plot, RWBY is owned by Monty Oum and RoosterTeeth, enjoy. **

* * *

Keiran was forcefully sat down in a chair as a police officer paced around the room. The dragoon shifted nervously in his seat as silence filled the room. Keiran looked at the blank wall behind him as a pair of hands slammed down on the table in front of him.

"Where were you on the twilight zone of november 39th?" The officer asked dramatically. Keiran looked confused by the matter of the question, mostly by how it didn't make any sense, and sighed in disappointment.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm the one asking the questions here." The officer reached into his jacket and placed a file folder on the table. "As you can see in these photos, you are shown leaving the victim's apartment and are then seen leaving his apartment again without any sign of reëntry."

"Bizarre but did you ever consider looking at who was exiting the apartment, this guy looks nothing like me." Keiran proved his point by pointing to the man in the second photo. It was a middle-aged man, who looks suspiciously like Darius. "The suspect you see here looks at least thirty years older than me, and he's covered in blood."

The interrogator looked closely at the picture before turning away from Keiran in thought. The dragoon groaned as he waited patiently for a response, which he assumed would take several moments.

"Any day now," Keiran complained. He gave a brief yawn as the officer turned around to retrieve the folder. Keiran was pulled to his feet as the officer undid Keiran's handcuffs. "You're letting me go?"

"Yes but I'll have to take you to see the chief, he'll certainly request your help in this investigation." Keiran felt the officer pushing him gently down the hall toward the chief's office.

"So, why did you guys think it was me?" Keiran wondered aloud.

"Don't ask me, the chief is the one who told us to bring you in."

They reached the office and Keiran immediately took notice of the name. Hector Clay, police chief, is what the door read.

"Looks like he finally got that promotion," Keiran whispered. He turned to his escort and waved him off, leading the officer to walk back down the hall. Keiran noticed the officer breathe a long sigh of relief, much to the dragoon's amusement. Keiran opened the door to see a significantly older man hovering over a pile of papers. "Nice to see you again, Hector."

The man looked up and smiled faintly at Keiran. The prominent mustache on his face was starting to turn gray and his hair was laid very flat across his somewhat bald head.

"Ah, Keiran, it looks like my officers left you unharmed." Clay motioned the dragoon to sit down, which Keiran did with a faint smirk. "I hope you aren't mad at me for having you arrested."

"It's fine, probably the universe getting back at me for something I did recently," Keiran stated.

Clay neatly stacked the papers and pushed them to the side of his desk before addressing Keiran. "As you most likely know, Qrow Rose was found dead recently and we need you to look for the suspect."

"Why me? Can't your men handle it?" Keiran asked.

"If the suspect was normal person, yes. However, this man has managed to escape the few attempts we've made at capturing him. I wanted to ask for Professor Ozpin's help on the matter but I doubt he wants to risk letting his students enter a police matter."

"And you think that I'm excluded from that? What makes you think Ozpin would be any more willing to let me help you than any of the other students?" Keiran asked, sounding somewhat agitated.

"I'm only asking that you do this because the suspect we've been tailing was good friends with your father," Clay explained. Keiran crossed his arms and let Clay continue his explanation. "Me and the top brass have decided that since you may know where this man is, we are going to let you spearhead the investigation."

Keiran stared down the police chief as Clay finished his proposal. The dragoon stared blankly at the floor in thought and he could feel Clay getting nervous. Eventually, Keiran relented and stood up.

"I'll do it but not to help the police." Keiran stated firmly. Clay stood up with the slightest form of excitement and handed Keiran a case file. "I told you, I'm not doing this to help the police."

"Then why?" Clay asked cluelessly.

"Two reasons, one: I need to find Darius for my own reasons and two..." Keiran paused before giving his old friend a soft smile. "I'm paying back the debt I owe you."

Clay smiled as Keiran opened the door to leave and quickly stopped him. "If you're going up against a dangerous suspect, I suggest you retrieve your equipment."

"That was the plan, Lucas miniaturized my stuff before the ship landed. It's a nifty skill he has and it may be useful for catching this guy." Keiran gave his old friend a small wave before leaving Clay's office. He calmly walked down the hall as he tried to piece together the information he had on Darius. "So he's able to evade coördinated police raids and from Blake's report from her encounter with him, Darius can morph his body in strange ways. This is gonna be tougher than I thought."

Keiran walked into the lobby and saw Lucas sitting patiently reading a dust magazine. One the cover he noticed a picture of Weiss, leading Keiran's mind to try and wander down a dark path that only Lucas knew. The dragoon strolled over to his teammate, who was completely absorbed in the magazine to the point he couldn't even hear Keiran's footsteps.

"You really need to get up the courage to ask Weiss out, this is embarrassing," Keiran teased. Lucas jolted back and quickly tossed the magazine away, much to Keiran's amusement.

"Dude, why the hell are you sneaking up on me like that?"

"A better question is: why don't you just ask her out, the worst thing she can do is say no." Keiran pointed out.

"No, the worst thing she can do is freeze me and shatter my frozen body, then crush me frozen remains and scatter the icy dust into the wind." Lucas instinctively pulled out various small objects from his pockets and allowed them to grow to regular size. Keiran set his equipment on a chair as he continued to speak to his teammate.

"And that right there is why she would say no, you seem to have this very vivid idea that Weiss is a massive bitch. If you want her to like you, get that idea out of your head and get it in your head that she's only like that to people who treat her that way."

"Oh wow, you should be a freaking relationship counselor. You're obviously better at giving advice than taking it," Lucas snapped back. Keiran stiffened at the comment and clenched his fists. Lucas immediately shrunk back from his leader and felt guilty. "...Sorry, I didn't mean that."

Keiran calmed himself and put on his helmet before turning to his teammate. "It's fine, someone was gonna say it sooner or later." The dragoon calmly strapped his sheath over his back and headed for the door. "Come on, we have some investigating to do."

Lucas quickly grabbed his gear and followed Keiran outside, at which point he noted the dragoon was a fair distance ahead of him. The samurai ran to catch up to his teammate, who seemed pensive over the whole situation.

"What do you mean? What are we investigating?"

"The police have kindly asked us to find the guy who murdered Qrow. I guess they think two huntsman in training can do the job better than they can." Keiran calmly took out his scroll and started tuning the digital radio, growling angrily when he found pure static. Keiran quickly got the radio tuned to the open police frequency. "We can use this to listen to what the police are up to while we head straight to the source."

"You mean your old house, right?" Lucas asked. Keiran nodded as Lucas walked in front of him. "Don't you think it would be better if we stayed around here? If Darius shows up here and we're in the middle of a forest, he could cause a lot of trouble before we can get back here."

"I can see where you're coming from but I think it would be more efficient if we went to where we're most likely to find him, the police can manage without us for a while longer." Keiran argued. The dragoon turned as Lucas forcefully grabbed his arm.

"Are you mental? The people of Vale need our help more than you need to fulfill some personal mission! So we are staying here until Darius is in custody!" Lucas shouted. Keiran shook his arm free and pushed Lucas against a wall. The samurai stood firm and glared at his teammate, who seemed ready to massacre a village. "Don't fight me on this."

Keiran grabbed Lucas by the shirt and held him a few feet off the ground. The dragoon had a twisted look in his eye as he felt Lucas' shirt tear slightly.

"Or what?" Keiran asked evilly. Lucas kept calm as his leader pulled him away from the wall before slamming him hard against the wall. "You know I could tear you apart if I wanted to."

"You could but you'd regret it instantly. You're not a monster and you know that I'm right about staying here, you just can't admit it," Lucas said calmly. He felt Keiran's grip tighten and braced himself to be slammed on the wall. Instead, Lucas felt himself gently hit the ground and saw Keiran turning away.

"...You're right about a few things, I'm no monster and I can't leave these people unprotected." Keiran turned back to his teammate with a small smile and helped him up. "We'll do things your way until we're sure Darius isn't here."

Lucas smiled as he dusted himself off and laughed nervously. "I honestly thought you were gonna kill me, you're scary when you're angry."

"Just giving you practice for Weiss," Keiran joked. Lucas frowned slightly and slugged Keiran on the shoulder, which earned a gentle laugh from the dragoon. "Come on, we should get moving. We can split up if we need to."

"Ok but no running off into the woods if we do," Lucas warned. Keiran smiled as Lucas ran ahead while the dragoon took to the rooftops.

* * *

They pair had searched for hours with Keiran looking around from the roofs while Lucas tended to the streets. Their search yielded very little results but as day turned to night it became easier to look for suspicious activity in Vale.

"Anything yet?" Keiran asked impatiently. He looked at his scroll as he waited for Lucas to respond. There was some static on the end before Lucas finally answered.

"_Nope, fifth dust store I've been to and not one sign of Darius. You were right, it would've been faster if we went to the source." _

"No, you made the right call. Even if its only for a little while, the people of Vale probably feel a bit safer," Keiran responded. He heard Lucas laugh on the other end before something caught his eye. "Just a second." Keiran closed his scroll and jumped down to the street to get a closer look.

Switching his helmet to infrared mode, Keiran took a long look at the building in front of him.

"Strange, there's not even the faintest hint of heat in this building. No people, nothing. A building this large should have a standard dust furnace at the very least." Keiran quickly called Lucas to inform him of his find.

"_Whats up?" _

"I found something strange, a building with no heat circulation at all. I plan on investigating."

"_Well don't take too long, I'm bored enough as it is," _Lucas joked. Keiran smiled as he entered the apartment complex. The lights were off, forcing Keiran to activated his night vision view.

"Ok, now where would the furnace be?" Keiran asked himself. He noticed a small map near the front desk. He looked and found the room with the furnace was behind a secret door near the front desk. "I bet the guy who has this job sweats buckets."

Climbing over the front desk, Keiran took notice of the lack of a person at the desk.

"Weird, you would think someone would be here even without any power." He dismissed the thought and felt along the wall for any sign of the hidden door. Keiran found a small indent in the wall and applied some force and the wall turned in on itself revealing a large room. In the far corner was the dust furnace and it looked to be in worse condition than expected. "No way this was a dust explosion, the damage looks too concentrated for that."

Stepping away from the furnace, Keiran took note of the damaged electrical panel on the wall. Much like the furnace, there was a large hole through it and proved useless.

"Well this seems stranger by the second, the furnace and panel have matching holes punched through them but there are no signs of anyone breaking in. That means whoever did this came in the same way I did." Keiran finished his analysis and headed back to the secret door when he felt the crunching of glass beneath his feet. "That's strange, it's not from the window. That means that there was some glass in the panel or furnace or there was some struggle here."

The dragoon followed the trail of glass and was shocked when it turned into a trail of blood.

"How the hell did I miss this? I'm not that unobservant, am I?" He scolded himself. Keiran focussed on the trail and noticed it disappeared when it reached the stairs. "Whoever this blood belonged to must've bled out by the time he reached of stairs." The dragoon climbed the stairs to the first floor and saw several claw marks and holes along the wall. "Definitely a struggle, now the question remains as to who made these."

Keiran reached the top of the stairs and took in the sight of all the doors being knocked in and pools of blood around the doorways. The smell of death was strong throughout the hallway and Keiran wanted to vomit.

"Whatever did this isn't human," Keiran stated. He walked down the hall and peered in each room in hopes of finding what caused this. The room at the end of the hall had blood still accumulating at the door. Keiran took notice and readied his sword as he approached it. In the room was the sound of someone being beat and Keiran didn't hesitate to jump in the doorway. "Hey, stop right-what the hell are you?"

In the room was a strange-looking creäture with a bladed right arm, a club-like left arm. The monster dropped his near dead victim and turned to Keiran with a frightening smile.

"Ah Keiran, I never expected to see you again so soon," The monster spoke. Keiran seized up as he recognized the voice and the monster laughed. "Oh I'm sorry, it seems you haven't seen how I really look have you?"

Keiran was shocked at the monsters arms turned human and its body shrunk by half its previous size. Once the transformation was complete all that remained was Darius and the half dead man he was holding.

"W-What the hell are you?" Keiran asked in fear. Darius laughed more before throwing his victim at Keiran. The dragoon caught the flying man and was knocked to the floor while Darius leaped out the window. "Stop!"

Keiran gently set the man on the floor before running to the window. Once again, there was no sign of Darius and Keiran bashed his fist against the windowsill in anger.

"Dammit, I let my fear get to me." He told himself. Keiran turned from the window and walked over the dying man who was barely breathing and trying to move. "Save your strength, you need as much of it as you can get."

"Am...I...going to...die?" The man asked weakly. Keiran grimaced at the question and nodded slowly. The man laughed weakly and tried to sit up.

"Please rest, I can call for an ambulance and we can keep you alive. Just don't move and I can-"

"Look kid...there are...some things that even...you can't stop. Death...is one of those things," the man explained. Keiran clenched his fists in anger and tried to think of a way to help but came up with nothing.

"There has to be something, anything I can do!" Keiran pleaded.

He never got an answer. The man had passed before Keiran even finished talking. He let out an angered yell as police sirens approached the building. Keiran retrieved his sword and walked out of the room. Police officers rushed past him and checked the open rooms and the floors above. Standing near the first set of stairs were Clay and Lucas, the former looking less than pleased with the whole situation. Lucas quickly took note of Keiran and waved him over. The dragoon was prepared for whatever he was about to hear and hoped he wouldn't receive too much punishment.

"Keiran, what happened here?" Lucas asked. Keiran didn't answer and looked at the floor instead. The police chief stared angrily at Keiran and grew even angrier as the seconds ticked away.

"I want a report now!" Clay bellowed. Keiran snapped out of his stupor and stood at attention. "What happened here?"

"The suspect raided the building, cutting off all power and heat. He then proceeded to slaughter everyone who lived here. I saw him when he was killing the last victim but failed to stop him, sir!"

"Wow, even Keiran can take orders," Lucas mumbled.

"Who was the suspect?" Clay asked.

"Darius, sir. He transformed into a monster to easily kill everyone here." Keiran explained. Clay clenched his fist before turning away. Lucas breathed a sigh of relief before Clay quickly turned and punched Keiran in the face. The dragoon held his ground and merely took a few steps back. "Sir, I'll go find him right away. I know exactly where he is heading and I can get there quickly."

"Save it for tomorrow, you need your rest." Clay turned and walked away leaving Keiran and Lucas alone.

"Look I'm sorry, if we did what you wanted to do none of this would've happened."

"No, it's better we stayed in Vale, the police wouldn't have found this place for another few days," Keiran said. He started walking downstairs and Lucas followed. "Have we found a place to stay for the night?"

"Clay found an apartment for us that's under police watch we should be able to have a comfy sleep tonight," Lucas explained. They reached the door and Keiran quickly stepped outside and found a sight that rarely happened in Vale.

It was snowing.

"That's strange, it's the middle of August. Why is it snowing?" Keiran asked.

"Well the kingdom of Vale is known for having strange weather patterns." Lucas patted Keiran on the shoulder before continuing down the sidewalk. The dragoon, unsatisfied with his teammate's explanation, came up with a theory of his own.

"Snow normally doesn't show up until near the end of September. I think this is a sign of things to come, the only question is, what awaits us tomorrow?"

* * *

**Author's Note: I'm really sorry if this wasn't worth the wait. Half of me felt like I needed to get another chapter out and the other half wanted to make sure it was good. I hope that's what happened since I don't have the greatest judgement on things. I think the next chapter will either be centered around Ruby and what's going on at Beacon or the focus will stay with Keiran and Lucas. Anyway, that's all from me for now, see ya.**


	6. The Secret of Family

**Author's Note: Hello there, I bet none of you were expecting to see this story again. I honestly would have put this up sooner if I hadn't spent all day playing Pokemon Y, but that's beside the point. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter, so let's get on with the show.**

**Aside from the majority of the plot and my OC's, RWBY is owned by Monty Oum and Roosterteeth.**

* * *

Keiran and Lucas walked down the snow-covered street. Keiran was being kept warm by his aura while Lucas was comfortable in his haori. There were even fewer people in the streets than the day before and the ones who did walk the street would often duck inside random houses.

"I've never seen a snowfall this bad. People are to scared to even open their windows," Keiran exclaimed. True to his word, windows were boarded up or sealed shut.

"This definitely isn't natural, it's still near the middle of summer. Even if it was snowing now, it shouldn't be this cold." Lucas added. The samurai's eyes wandered around the street and he noticed people shrinking away from their windows as they walked by. "I think they might be scared of us."

"I noticed that too. People won't even look at us, and if they did they would run away screaming." The boys continued down the street trying their best to avoid scaring the townsfolk further. Keiran was met with more frightened looks than Lucas, which served to calm the latter and almost enrage Keiran.

"I think they're scared of you, but why? You're only scary when you're fighting, which I guess would be enough of a reason to be scared of you."

"Not helping, Lucas." Keiran growled. The samurai distanced himself from his leader as they continued down the street. The dragoon kept his eyes trained on the treeline to his right while Lucas did his best to calm civilians who approached them.

While Lucas was distracted with a small crowd, Keiran started walking towards the woods as if in a trance. The way the trees had markings that looked familiar to the dragoon and upon closer inspection, Keiran could read his name carved in the tree.

"_Keiran Edwards, age seven. _I carved this almost ten years ago. That must mean..." He trailed off and walked past the tree and deeper into the forest. Keiran could faintly feel Lucas approaching but his voice sounded a million miles away. The dragoon was more focused on following the trail he knew so well, carefully avoiding traps that were placed on the ground and jumping over the pitfalls.

Lucas was having a tough time keeping pace with his teammate, but was ultimately glad he did as he narrowly avoided the traps placed carefully on the path.

"Keiran, where are you going!" Lucas called. The dragoon did even pass a glance and kept running down the path. He breathed a sigh of relief when Keiran stopped in a clearing and picked up the pace. Lucas grabbed Keiran by the shoulder while the dragoon was staring at the empty clearing. "Dude, whats wrong with you?"

"This was the clearing I use to play in. My dad and I would spar here sometimes and he'd make me look like a joke," Keiran said, barely above a whisper. Lucas was shocked by the lack of emotion in his teammate's voice. Even when he was sad, Keiran still tried to make himself sound like he was feeling sad or lie his way through, but now there was nothing. No sadness. No false happiness. Only a child wearing Keiran's face.

Before Lucas could say anything, Keiran took off into the forest and Lucas tried to follow. It was nearly impossible to track the dragoon, he left no footprints leading Lucas to believe he was jumping from tree to tree.

"Dammit, Keiran. Get back here!" Lucas called. The samurai felt himself lagging behind from having to dodge trees and avoid traps, so instead he unsheathed his katana, split it into its twin blade mode and started cutting down the trees. Lucas figured there weren't any traps if he strayed from the path and swiftly moved from Keiran's trail and made his own. "I'm going to find out whats making you act like this and destroy it!"

"I can't allow that." A voice boomed. Lucas turned to his left and then everything went dark.

* * *

Keiran kept on going forward, only hesitating briefly when he noticed Lucas' presence stopped following him. He felt a sharp pain in his head but quickly shook it off, at the cost of slowing his pace. Keiran finally stopped to catch his breath, taking a quick look around to be sure he was safe.

"Something isn't right, it feels like I'm being expected." Keiran jumped to the next tree and felt tension underneath his right foot. "A tripwire? Dammit!" From both sides two logs swung down and Keiran felt his senses instantly sharpen. The dragoon jumped straight up as the logs crashed together. Instead of rising above the treeline, Keiran felt himself slowing down sooner than usual. The tension of many more wires against his back set off alarm bells in his head. He unsheathed his sword and cut the wires before landing on the previous trap, while waiting for the new traps to come for him. On his left, a large boulder hurtled toward him, on his right, a giant wood stake. From the front and back, two more logs ready to squish him. Keiran took a deep breath and quickly assessed the situation. _"The logs are a diversion for me to jump into the path of the boulder and stake, which are slightly above my current spot and- Crap!" _

The dragoon had to cut his thoughts short as the boulder and stake were slightly faster than the other trap. On instinct Keiran cut the log beneath him in half and jumped down into the snow. Above him, the sound of rock and wood shattering was absent and the sound of two logs colliding as well.

"That's odd, no way they could have stopped in midair. They were moving way to fast for that. Same with the logs, they should have split each other in half," Keiran observed. Questions were piling up and Keiran didn't have answers for any of them, except one. "Where's Lucas?"

"If it's the samurai you're looking for, look no further," a voice quietly instructed. The voice sent chills down Keiran's spine and froze him to the spot, too scared to even turn his head to see who it was. There was a faint laugh before the voice spoke up again, frightening Keiran further. "What's wrong, son? Aren't you happy to be reunited with your old man?"

Keiran took a deep, shaky breath before turning to the owner of the voice. Behind him was a tower of a man, with deep blue eyes and black hair. The man was dressed in a black robe that was purple on the inside.

"F-Father?" Keiran asked in fear. Cronan laughed again and held his left arm out to his side, because in his right was an unconscious Lucas. "Lucas! What did you do to him?"

"It's only a minor head injury, nothing more. If anything I'd be more concerned with yourself, because I've saved your friend the trouble of seeing what I'm going to do to you," the elder Edwards threatened. Keiran took a moment to register the comment before taking a defensive stance. Cronan took notice of Keiran's weapon, which was now a sword instead of the lances he had been trained with. "I see you've changed a lot since we last saw each other."

"That's a pretty vague timeframe, you hardly ever saw me. You would only be home for a day at a time and you'd expect me to learn in a few hours. It really shouldn't surprise you that I've changed," Keiran snapped back. He relaxed his shoulders and reached for his helmet so he could remove it. "And this little reunion calls for further change." Keiran tossed his helmet in the air and jumped after it, deftly slashing it in half, much to his father's shock.

"How? How could you desecrate part of our heritage like that?" Cronan cried.

"Part of YOUR heritage. Mine belongs to my mother, I'm following in her footsteps. But unlike her, the people I trust don't leave me to die!" Keiran roared. He launched himself at his father, who calmly tossed Lucas aside and raised his right arm to block. The sword made a solid connection with Cronan's arm, but it didn't cut. Instead there was a loud clang and Dragon's Fire was left with a strong vibration running through it. Keiran remained unfazed and jumped to his father's left to strike. He was met with the same result and a counter attack that knocked him back several feet. Keiran rolled along the ground before stabbing his sword into the ground to stop himself. The dragoon looked in his father's direction to see he wasn't there. A punch that connected with his back alerted him to his father's position, leading him to counter with a several shots while he flew back.

While the first two bullets bounced harmlessly off Cronan's arms, the third, which was filled with ice dust, hit its mark, freezing the elder Edwards torso and shoulders. Keiran's landing, however, was less than spectacular. His body slammed hard into the snow covered ground and slid beside Lucas. Keiran, although dazed and exhausted, turned his immediate attention to his friend.

"Lucas, you need to wake up! I could really use your help," Keiran pleaded. He smacked Lucas a few times, which slightly brought him to a state of consciousness. "Thank goodness you're awake. We need to get-"

Keiran was cut off by a large mass hitting him. He was nearly tossed across the forest and tried to right himself in mid-air. Before he could get his bearings, Keiran felt his father grab him and slam him into the forest floor, from twenty feet in the air. Keiran laid in a small crater, struggling to even hold himself up. Cronan landed at the edge of the crater with his arms crossed and a smug look on his face.

"I figured someone with your experience would die quicker than this, but obviously that isn't the case," Cronan taunted. Keiran watched as his father approached, the intent to kill clear on his face. Cold hands wrapped around his neck and Keiran felt himself lift off the ground and struggle for air at the same time. "Now, how should I kill you? Slowly, which would be more fun for me, or quickly."

"How about you go fu- Argh!" Keiran tried to say, but was cut off before he could finish.

"Ah, ah, ah. No back talking young man, disrespecting your parents is impolite." Cronan drew back his fist and rammed it into his son's stomach, making him cough up blood. "How pathetic. A true dragoon would never die such a worthless death. It seems you're time with those huntsman and huntress has made you soft, which will make it easier for me to squeeze the life out of-Ahhh!"

A sword pierced Cronan's chest as he spoke, causing him to drop Keiran and turn to the source of the blade. In the distance, Lucas was standing weakly against a tree, having just used most of his strength to throw the sword.

"Impossible!"

"That's what you think!" Lucas said smugly. He pushed off the tree made his way to the wounded father-son duo. "Serves you right for sneak attacking me before."

Cronan stopped his writhing at those words and smiled menacingly. "If it's an eye for an eye you want, then you'll get just that." With a snap of his fingers, a spear was driven straight through Lucas, fatally wounding the samurai. As Lucas fell to the ground, a figure stepped out from behind the trees. The apparent murderer of Lucas turned out to be a carbon copy of Keiran. "Good work, son."

"Lucas!" Keiran cried. He ignored his apparent doppelgänger and pushed past his father and ran to his injured friend. Keiran tried in vain to pull the spear free and instead tried to staunch the blood flow. "You can't die on me! I need someone to help me, you're my only friend out here."

"Keiran...you have...plenty of other...friends back at Beacon...go and protect them," Lucas coughed. Keiran cried as he took his friend's hands, covering them in blood. "You...have the strength...but you need to...have people by...your side...to use it."

"Please, tell me what I can do to save you!" Keiran pleaded. Lucas opened his mouth to speak but instead told Keiran something else.

"Make sure...Weiss...is okay." Once those words left his mouth, Lucas' hands went limp and cold. Keiran felt a brief surge of energy before he respectfully closed his friends eyes.

"Well, that's one down. I'm off to destroy Beacon, with Darius and Paz," Cronan stated. "Keiran, be sure to give your copy a good fight." Cronan jumped into the trees and vanished, leaving Keiran alone with his copy.

The dragoon stood up beside his friend's body and turned to face his clone. "You...just killed my best friend. And now I'm going to make sure that he's the last life you take. So prepare yourself, because I'm going to make you rue the day you were created."

Keiran readied his weapon while his clone took an unarmed, defensive stance. The original looked at his hand and drew a X across his face in Lucas' blood before charging at his new enemy.

* * *

**Author's Note: I hope none of you grew attached to Lucas, because of obvious reasons. Of course I'm probably just kidding myself, since the only one who got attached to him was me but anyway I had this planned from the beginning and I have an even bigger surprise in store for later. As for the whole clone thing, that will be explained later since I just shoved him in at the last second. Anyway, this is all from me for the next little while because I have a family trip coming up, and I might not have time to write while I'm there. So until next time, this is Key18 signing off. **


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